Bristol City striker and former Arsenal prodigy Jay Emmanuel-Thomas hopes to down West Ham

It’s fair to say, Bristol City striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has experienced a few ups and downs during his relatively short career.

This afternoon, however, he has the chance to register his greatest high yet when leading Steve Cotterill’s League One promotion-chasers into FA Cup battle against Premier League West Ham.

Certainly, JET – as Emmanuel-Thomas, 24 is known – views the sell-out Fourth-Round tie at Ashton Gate as an ideal chance to remind everybody why, not so long ago, he was considered such a bright prospect.

And the fact he can do that by putting hometown club West Ham to the sword only serves to make the occasion all the more special.

The City ace, whose unique penalty-taking method has attracted more than 700,000 hits on YouTube, said: “I’m from Forest Green. My dad, uncles and friends supported West Ham. But I signed for Arsenal and followed them.

“To draw West Ham is really nice. Hopefully, if everything goes well and we give a good performance, dad can go back for a bit of banter with his Hammers mates.

“It’s a huge game, against a big club going well in the Premier League and being live on TV means there will be a lot of neutrals watching.

REMINDER: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas hopes to show why he was so highly regarded earlier in his career against West Ham [GETTY]

“Many of them will not have seen City this season, so it’s our opportunity to show them what we’re all about”

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

“Many of them will not have seen City this season, so it’s our opportunity to show them what we’re all about.

“We have a lot of youngsters here, who are hungry to test themselves against the best and see if they could play in the Premier League. This is the chance to prove it.”

In October 2010 Emmanuel-Thomas seemed on the brink of a breakthrough when making his Premier League debut for Arsenal as a sub against Chelsea.

After that, though, the wonderkid, who signed for the club aged eight, found himself permanently on the N5 sidelines – and eventually was forced to try his luck in the Championship, firstly with Ipswich and then Bristol City in League One.

Emmanuel-Thomas has lost none of the maverick flair that first caught the eye of Arsene Wenger. Just check out the YouTube clip of his recent penalty against Yeovil, which is attracting so much fanfare.

Tagged ‘the slowest penalty run-up’, it is similar to Eden Hazard’s spot-kick technique for Chelsea. Mind you, Emmanuel-Thomas claims his version to be totally original.

“It’s not modelled on anyone else. It’s a tactic I’ve been working on for a bit,” said JET, with four goals in his last three outings.